Better World Books is a great site for buying books, especially used books. They have great deals and cheap shipping and at the same time donate a portion of the proceeds from each...Read complete review

Better World Books is a great site for buying books, especially used books. They have great deals and cheap shipping and at the same time donate a portion of the proceeds from each book you buy to charity literacy programs around the world.

Their books come from book drives they hold, primarily on college campuses and at libraries, and from their buy-back program. I didn't try the buy-back program, but it looks easy and like a good deal. Apparently, you can just enter the books you'd like to send them and they pay you for them and all you have to do is print their shipping label and send them . They pay the postage, you don't have to. The site shows what they'll pay for each book. On a lot of the books I have that I browsed the buy-back price for, it looked like a great deal. Easy money for unwanted books. They also accept books that they aren't paying for at that time,too, as a donation, and the books will be donated to literacy programs or librarys or sold with a portion of the proceeds benefitting those causes.

The selection is great. Every book I browsed for was available. I'm sure it's not as huge as Amazon. It didn't seem to have that "we have every written material ever printed" type of vibe that Amazon does, but it did have a much larger selection than I needed. The choices were definitely extensive, on par with or better than most online book sites.

I used the site to buy a college text book for my husband. I needed it in a hurry before the start of his summer semester, so I had to find a site with a great deal that would get it to me in two days or less. Even with having to pay almost 10 bucks for guaranteed second day shipping, Better World Books was the best deal I found on the internet. Under normal circumstances, the shipping would have been much cheaper, like around 3 bucks I think (actually free for me, since I shop through goodsearch.com's goodshop and got a coupon for free regular shipping). The used book's price itself was very low, and extremely low when compared with a new copy of the book, even from discounted sites like Amazon.

The book was in great condition. It was like new except for the hard-back's corners were a tiny bit dented where it had likely been bumped a bit in the previous owners backpack. Other than that, there were no signs of wear at all, even the new-book smell was still intact. I saw that the site offers a wide range of grades of books, from brand new books straight from the publishers to very used books that show obvious signs of wear and repeated use. But the condition of the books is stated on the site. They're graded new, like new, good used, acceptable used, etc. And any serious condition issues a specific book has are clearly noted on the site. Like it it's an ex-library book, it says so. If it's got heavy underlining, it says so. That kind of thing. That way you know exactly what you're getting. On many books, there's several copies available, so you can choose which price and condition is right for you and your circumstances.

The shipping was exactly as promised. I payed for second day shipping, I had it by mid-morning on the second day. They provide UPS tracking numbers,too. I love that. Especially when I'm using expedited shipping and really need a book in a hurry, it's reassuring to know exactly where it is and when I can truly expect it or when to start being concerned. The book arrived in great shape, in one of those vinyl type mailers. The "your order has been shipped" email was the warmest, funniest, one I've ever seen,too. Not your standard bland confirmation. In general, all of the site's wording and interaction with it's customers every step of the way is warmer and friendlier and more personal than any seller I've ever dealt with. You can feel a spirit of fun and love and doing good and don't feel like you're just another order number. You feel like a person instead of a dollar sign.

The site is very easy to use. It's easy to navigate and easy to shop. They have Paypal as a payment option,too. I love that. It makes it really quick and easy for me to check out that way. Plus, I don't have to give them my credit card information. I like to keep from spreading that around on a bunch of sites whenever I can. Especially when it's the first time I've shopped on a site, it makes me feel a lot safer and more secure from fraud and identity theft.

I like that the company is really dedicated to being as green as possible. They really support buying used books instead of new ones and selling or giving away unwanted books instead of just letting them go to the dump. Any unsellable books they receive get either put to use as book donations to organizations somewhere where they can be put to good use and appreciated or are recycled for their paper content. Very very little is wasted. They also, for like an extra quarter a book, offer "carbon free shipping", which is really just buying a little bit of carbon-offset credit, so if you're concerned about the environmental impact of having your book shipped to you, you can rest easier that way. I didn't opt for the "carbon free shipping" option.

I wish they made it a bit clearer on their site that they're not a charity. They are a socially conscious company with a deep core commitment to promoting literacy and protecting the environment. And the site doesn't lie or anything, but it does give the quick impression at first glance of being a non-profit like a charity fundraiser . They're not. They're a "social venture", a for-profit company with a major dedication to the donations and principles. If you dig deep enough on the site FAQ, you'll find that on average 7 or 8 percent of the purchase price of each book you buy goes to the charity causes. While it's not as stunning as it seems at first glance, like on the book I bought, the charity's getting more like 7 or 8 bucks instead of a hundred bucks, it's better than most other re-sale book sellers. When I buy from a used book seller like on Amazon or Ebay or something, probably not a cent of the purchase price is going to charity. So it is a big improvement over that. Definitely enough to make a big difference on where I purchase from. At Better World Books, 7 or 8 percent of the money I was going to spend on a book somewhere anyway is going to a good cause rather than just going into a seller's pockets.

The prices are right. The products are what they say they are. The service is good. The shipping is quick. A little bit of your money is going to a good cause. It's a great site.

VS

Most Liked Negative Review

Better World Books is absolute Garbage.

I love the counter on their homepage that shows how many books they've saved from landfills... it seems to me that they save a few too many.A few years back I ordered an...Read complete review

I love the counter on their homepage that shows how many books they've saved from landfills... it seems to me that they save a few too many.A few years back I ordered an old out of print book from them and it arrived with the spine taped up, no big deal, it's pretty old and I got it fairly cheap compared to some other places so I didn't think anything of it. Well **after reading to page 200 I discovered that the book went from page 200 to page 1123... that's right, 923 pages GONE**. By the time I'd read that far and discovered I'd only received 392 pages of a 1315 page book I was about 3 days past the limit for their 30 day return policy but I decided to contact them anyways. **You'd think a bookstore with such noble ideals and whatnot would show a bit of compassion and want to take care of such a grievous mistake on their part, but you'd be wrong**. I was very polite in my email but the moment they discovered I was past my 30 day return period they simply stopped responding.Maybe I'm a moron for not checking for missing pages in the first place but **for Better World Books to ship me only 29% of the book I bought from them** **and then refuse to respond to my emails** (I was never once rude or demanding in any way with them, in fact quite the contrary) is completely unacceptable service to me and **I'll never do business with Better World Books again no matter how their price compares to the competition.**

I love reading a wide variety of kinds of books, and I love being able to get them from this site. The site also promotes a great purpose in supporting literacy around the world. The site provides money for several different literacy groups and libraries. Overall, I love using this site for books I need as well as for supporting a great cause.

Product SelectionI was able to find some great classic novels (such as The Count of Monte Cristo) on this site at a very good price. I was also able to find some used textbooks for research and also found a way to get rid of some of my old textbooks in a way that would benefit others. Overall, this site has several kinds of books that I love to use.

Product PricingThe books that I have received from this site have been used, but they were at a good low price for books that were still in great shape.

Customer ServiceI was curious about how the site chooses what literacy groups to support, and customer service was very helpful in answering my questions.

Sierra Trading Post is for people like me that want higher quality active wear but don’t want to pay full price. Be sure to sign up for their emails as they frequently run specials that can really save you a lot more money on top of the Sierra Trading Post already pretty low prices. When you link through the email it gives you the price right into your shopping cart. The only strange thing about how it works is that when you use one of the email links when you go to look at the price of the item it shows you the regular sales price and in order to see the special sales price you have to click a little button that says “Your Coupon” and it shows you the price you will pay. A very odd feature, I’m not sure why they do it that way. I find it a bit annoying to use and I wish that they would just show you your price without having to double check each time. But I do like Sierra Trading Post and I frequently recommend them to friends.

I have purchased two textbooks from Better World Books over the past year. I have purchased from but have not sold to them, so I can't review them on their service in that respect. I was initially attracted to the company simply because they were offering the lowest price on the books I needed, but I have since grown to admire their missions to recycle and also promote literacy through their charitable giving. I understand that they are a high volume book seller, so I wasn't overly surprised (but a little disappointed) that my orders took over two weeks to arrive. Both books arrived in the condition promised which is always good. Overall, it is a quality service with an admirable mission, but I feel their service is too slow to earn my full endorsement. If time isn't too important and you are interested in a company with a conscience, then Better World Books might be for you.

If you are a book lover like I am, betterworldbooks.com might be one of your best discoveries. They have a very large selection of books and the prices on used books is quite reasonable. I found parts of a series of books that might daughter was reading on betterworldbooks.com that I was unable to find anywhere else. So if you are looking for any obscure titles, you might very well find them here. My books arrived in very prompt fashion and were just as described - no surprises here. They were also packaged decently so were not damaged at all in the mail. The website is user friendly - it was easy to search for the books I was looking for and the check out process was straightforward as well. I believe that betterworldbooks is also an amazon.com seller so if you have amazon gift cards you want to use you may be able to go that route as well. We do have a betterworldbooks store in our town and they have book donation drop boxes throughout the area so if you are looking to get rid of some of your collection, you may check for drop boxes around you and help their already good selection get even better! I recommend betterworldbooks.com to any and everyone!

Working at a school I often need books. By using Better World Books I am able to afford many more books than if I had to buy them new at full price. They offer a large variety of used childrens books for a very low price and best of all - shipping is free! On the few occasions when a book arrived in a lesser condition than what I had expected Better World Books customer service has been great. They have quickly taken care of any problems. In addition to wonderful books at a great price Better World Books has a great donation program. For every book I order a book is donated to someone in need. Or there are several other ways I can donate through the site. I love that we are recycling and reusing books rather than sending them to a landfill especially since so many of the used books I have ordered are still in very good condition. It seems to be a win win solution to order from Better World Books.

Terrible site, not good for purchasing college books. They market themselves in the college textbooks niche, but do not fundamentally understand that these books are needed urgently so that we can study for college and use it as a text for reference. It does no good if you receive the item after your class has finished.

That's the problem with this website. Despite numerous customer serivce contact, the item does not ship at all. I have no idea why there is such a long detail in shipping.

They take about 4 weeks to deliver the textbook, but do not advertise this shipping timeframe at all.

Definitely do not use this website, even if you save money, because the problem is that there is no use if you do not get the book for the full duration of the benefit.

You do not get refund despite the massive delay in shipping and no compensation. This is not a way to do business at all

If there is a book you are looking for and you want a good deal, there is a chance you can get it here. Better world books has a lot of very good quality used books. They also sell new books. Their "bargain bin" is just awesome. They have books for either 3 for $10 or 4 for $12. We have bought so many cute books from here! I don't know where they get them but some of them have library binding on them and have names from libraries stamped in them. I'm thinking the library got rid of older books and they bought them. The books were not in poor condition. They are gently used but they are fine. The shipping is reasonable too as they send them some way via post office that is cheap. They even had a deal once where you got chocolate with your books (free). I have shopped here for over a year and I really like it. Ordering is really simple and I end up one happy girl when the books come and my son is delighted with our purchase!

I love the counter on their homepage that shows how many books they've saved from landfills... it seems to me that they save a few too many.A few years back I ordered an old out of print book from them and it arrived with the spine taped up, no big deal, it's pretty old and I got it fairly cheap compared to some other places so I didn't think anything of it. Well **after reading to page 200 I discovered that the book went from page 200 to page 1123... that's right, 923 pages GONE**. By the time I'd read that far and discovered I'd only received 392 pages of a 1315 page book I was about 3 days past the limit for their 30 day return policy but I decided to contact them anyways. **You'd think a bookstore with such noble ideals and whatnot would show a bit of compassion and want to take care of such a grievous mistake on their part, but you'd be wrong**. I was very polite in my email but the moment they discovered I was past my 30 day return period they simply stopped responding.Maybe I'm a moron for not checking for missing pages in the first place but **for Better World Books to ship me only 29% of the book I bought from them** **and then refuse to respond to my emails** (I was never once rude or demanding in any way with them, in fact quite the contrary) is completely unacceptable service to me and **I'll never do business with Better World Books again no matter how their price compares to the competition.**

Better World Books is a great site for buying books, especially used books. They have great deals and cheap shipping and at the same time donate a portion of the proceeds from each book you buy to charity literacy programs around the world.

Their books come from book drives they hold, primarily on college campuses and at libraries, and from their buy-back program. I didn't try the buy-back program, but it looks easy and like a good deal. Apparently, you can just enter the books you'd like to send them and they pay you for them and all you have to do is print their shipping label and send them . They pay the postage, you don't have to. The site shows what they'll pay for each book. On a lot of the books I have that I browsed the buy-back price for, it looked like a great deal. Easy money for unwanted books. They also accept books that they aren't paying for at that time,too, as a donation, and the books will be donated to literacy programs or librarys or sold with a portion of the proceeds benefitting those causes.

The selection is great. Every book I browsed for was available. I'm sure it's not as huge as Amazon. It didn't seem to have that "we have every written material ever printed" type of vibe that Amazon does, but it did have a much larger selection than I needed. The choices were definitely extensive, on par with or better than most online book sites.

I used the site to buy a college text book for my husband. I needed it in a hurry before the start of his summer semester, so I had to find a site with a great deal that would get it to me in two days or less. Even with having to pay almost 10 bucks for guaranteed second day shipping, Better World Books was the best deal I found on the internet. Under normal circumstances, the shipping would have been much cheaper, like around 3 bucks I think (actually free for me, since I shop through goodsearch.com's goodshop and got a coupon for free regular shipping). The used book's price itself was very low, and extremely low when compared with a new copy of the book, even from discounted sites like Amazon.

The book was in great condition. It was like new except for the hard-back's corners were a tiny bit dented where it had likely been bumped a bit in the previous owners backpack. Other than that, there were no signs of wear at all, even the new-book smell was still intact. I saw that the site offers a wide range of grades of books, from brand new books straight from the publishers to very used books that show obvious signs of wear and repeated use. But the condition of the books is stated on the site. They're graded new, like new, good used, acceptable used, etc. And any serious condition issues a specific book has are clearly noted on the site. Like it it's an ex-library book, it says so. If it's got heavy underlining, it says so. That kind of thing. That way you know exactly what you're getting. On many books, there's several copies available, so you can choose which price and condition is right for you and your circumstances.

The shipping was exactly as promised. I payed for second day shipping, I had it by mid-morning on the second day. They provide UPS tracking numbers,too. I love that. Especially when I'm using expedited shipping and really need a book in a hurry, it's reassuring to know exactly where it is and when I can truly expect it or when to start being concerned. The book arrived in great shape, in one of those vinyl type mailers. The "your order has been shipped" email was the warmest, funniest, one I've ever seen,too. Not your standard bland confirmation. In general, all of the site's wording and interaction with it's customers every step of the way is warmer and friendlier and more personal than any seller I've ever dealt with. You can feel a spirit of fun and love and doing good and don't feel like you're just another order number. You feel like a person instead of a dollar sign.

The site is very easy to use. It's easy to navigate and easy to shop. They have Paypal as a payment option,too. I love that. It makes it really quick and easy for me to check out that way. Plus, I don't have to give them my credit card information. I like to keep from spreading that around on a bunch of sites whenever I can. Especially when it's the first time I've shopped on a site, it makes me feel a lot safer and more secure from fraud and identity theft.

I like that the company is really dedicated to being as green as possible. They really support buying used books instead of new ones and selling or giving away unwanted books instead of just letting them go to the dump. Any unsellable books they receive get either put to use as book donations to organizations somewhere where they can be put to good use and appreciated or are recycled for their paper content. Very very little is wasted. They also, for like an extra quarter a book, offer "carbon free shipping", which is really just buying a little bit of carbon-offset credit, so if you're concerned about the environmental impact of having your book shipped to you, you can rest easier that way. I didn't opt for the "carbon free shipping" option.

I wish they made it a bit clearer on their site that they're not a charity. They are a socially conscious company with a deep core commitment to promoting literacy and protecting the environment. And the site doesn't lie or anything, but it does give the quick impression at first glance of being a non-profit like a charity fundraiser . They're not. They're a "social venture", a for-profit company with a major dedication to the donations and principles. If you dig deep enough on the site FAQ, you'll find that on average 7 or 8 percent of the purchase price of each book you buy goes to the charity causes. While it's not as stunning as it seems at first glance, like on the book I bought, the charity's getting more like 7 or 8 bucks instead of a hundred bucks, it's better than most other re-sale book sellers. When I buy from a used book seller like on Amazon or Ebay or something, probably not a cent of the purchase price is going to charity. So it is a big improvement over that. Definitely enough to make a big difference on where I purchase from. At Better World Books, 7 or 8 percent of the money I was going to spend on a book somewhere anyway is going to a good cause rather than just going into a seller's pockets.

The prices are right. The products are what they say they are. The service is good. The shipping is quick. A little bit of your money is going to a good cause. It's a great site.